A helping hand in a time of need

Massage therapist Ginger Ross donates time for grieving mothers after losing her own babies

When Ginger Ross suffered a loss, she said she felt herself slipping into a black hole of despair. But thinking of her boys, Rex and Rogue, she decided to find a positive and help others.

I got pregnant through (in vitro fertilization) with twin boys and I ended up losing them at 22 weeks, Ross said. (Providence Newberg Medical Center) has been a godsend to us. Thats kind of where my whole business started.

As a massage therapist, Ross has been offering complimentary massages to women who lose children late term.

When people were asking what I needed, I needed a massage. I needed my body to be touched. I need the healing part of that, she said. Its just a big deal for a mom because your body is craving to hold a baby. My biggest thing is to allow the space for moms if they want to talk, talk. If they dont they can cry. If its all relaxation, thats fine too.

She started Guardian Angels Massage and Bodywork a little more than a year ago, on the one-year anniversary of what would have been her boys birthday.

I wanted them to be proud of who I became, she said. Its been a huge community support, and healing for me too on top of it.

In the past year, she said shes helped a handful of mothers and has been amazed it the similarities between herself and her patients.

I know with my second pregnancy I was so scared of getting pregnant with twins and having complications again. I was a freak show, a nervous wreck over everything, she said. (A recent patient) she said, Im such a stress case right now (with a new pregnancy). I totally get it.

Although she wants to help as many people as she can, Ross said she has to compliment the hospital staff.

They have a photographer that comes in before they take the baby away and theyll do photos for the family, she said. To know they were taking our babies and wed never see them again, that was so hard. To be able to have the photos its something that if it hadnt happened to me, Id think it was weird, but its been really healing for us.

Theres also the Nora Madelyn Foundation, which Ross said pays for a lot of the help they received from the hospital, including taking care of funeral arrangements and the butterfly release ceremony every summer.

They read the babys names and have parents come up and you release a monarch (butterfly), she said. Its such a community support that I feel like it just needs to be brought into awareness for a lot of moms that are out there going through miscarriage or still born.

Currently focusing on spending time with her 1-year-old, Dax, Ross said eventually shed like to expand her reach past the Newberg community to help as many mothers as possible.

I want it to be a support for as many people as I can, but for now my priority is my family and having enough time with my son, she said. As long as I know thats peaceful and taken care of I feel the rest will come into place.

To learn more about Guardian Angels Massage, visit www.facebook.com/ guardianangelsmandb.